Giga Chikadze has been forced to withdraw from his planned Featherweight contest versus Vinicius Oliveira.
The duo were scheduled to compete at UFC Vegas 119 in a couple weeks (Sat., June 20, 2026) from the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, but AG.Fight broke the news of Chikadze’s withdrawal on Friday. Setanta Sport’s Giorgi Kokiashvili offered further explanation, revealing that Chikadze is still suspended in Nevada, presumably as a result of his knockout loss to Kevin Vallejos back in December (watch here).
“Here’s the situation: Giga is allowed to fight EVERYWHERE except Las Vegas,” Kokiashvili wrote on X. “The Las Vegas commission is not allowing him to fight until June 24th. There is no further explanation as to why he is not allowed to fight. By the way, Giga is not injured at all …”
While it’s an unfortunate term of events for Chikadze, UFC has managed to find a replacement opponent and keep “Lokdog” on the card. Longtime Featherweight veteran and fan favorite, Andre Fili, will fill in for Chikadze on short-notice and help introduce Oliveira to the 145-pound ranks per a first report from Heavy.com.
Oliveira began his UFC career with a four-fight win streak, climbing the ladder at 135-pounds leading up to his first-ever main event slot versus Mario Bautista back in January. Unfortunately, “Lokdog” botched his extreme weight cut and was subsequently dominated by Bautista, prompting his move up to Featherweight. He also allegedly broke his arm in the lead up to that bout.
How well he’ll fare against bigger opposition remains to be seen, but Fili is a great test. “Touchy” has shared the cage with a who’s who of the Featherweight division for more than a decade now. Most recently, he’s split his last four bouts, defeating Cub Swanson and Christian Rodriguez while coming up short versus Melquizael Costa and Jose Miguel Delgado. Fili has alternated wins and losses dating back to April 2022, so the current pattern indicates a victory.
UFC Vegas 119 will be headlined by a Flyweight rematch between Manel Kape vs. Kyoji Horiguchi, which will potentially determine the next 125-pound title challenger. In addition, Ion Cutelaba will test rising prospect Navajo Stirling, and top Bantamweight prospects will collide in Ethan Ewing vs. Fard Basharat.
